PAGE EIGHT

REVIEW

ISLAND VIEW
~~ FREEZER

| “HACK MacAULAY

"Freezer Packs

service’. was..an

_ were interested at the outset. Of
equipment there was nothing.

“gervices..to ‘train: the

VARIETY —
PACK 30 ib: 24

perienced, and the cooperation of

valuable. The new corps had no

headquarters was an outbuilding

“oil vehicle which Reeve Sydney

“upon at the Sidney firehall, with,
“the volunteers. of that. Depart-

| ment lending a neighbourly hand’:

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shee meet { os

Bea, 6
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watch for i itt

“An initation- fighting ‘opportunity is coming your
WAY, ua Super 70 SALE: with super, savings on
just ahbouleverything you and your family will
need for (he coming months. . and its

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TLE ALI

Central Saanich

Central Saanich Volunteer Fire
Department was inaugurated at
a preliminary meeting held in
February 1951, when Harry
McNichol was elected president,
and in the following April he was
elected fire chief.

The large rural area com-
prising the..newly -formed
municipality had previously been
Ward Six of the municipality. of
Saanich and had been served by
the Elk Lake fire hall.

Formation. of a fire protection
immediate
responsibility and was entered
upon with much. enthusiasm.
Around. 50°. volunteers, for the
most part. raw and untrained,

North Saanich Volunteer Fire
Chief Art’. Gardner. offered ‘his
inex-
the Sidney Department was in-
firehall: for 18 °months “and
on the Saanichton fair grounds.

The first. fire. truck: was .a.
conversion ofa 1936 International

Pickles ‘provided. It. was worked

o _ pres Fire Chief ae Facey,

com ins

now a pean of the Sidney and |}
: North: “Saanich Department) |’.

blaze, the Sidney crew retired.
local firemen who were helping
the Sidney crew then carried on
‘with their own equipment.

While a number of the original.
volunteers. did not stay the
course, there remained upwards

_ of 30 stalwarts who persevered

with their training and at-
tendances. The Department has
not lacked. in numbers,: and _to-
day there are 29 enrolled and two
men on probation. Still serving of

‘the. first- members.-are: Don

Facey, Wilf Butler, Art Sanders
and Norman -Foster.
But the first’ few months of

and vigorous training were
marked by effort of a. different,
nature on council. Arguments
around the council table: on fire
-department affairs were fierce

_and., long: -winded, with Reeve
‘Pickles always in the thick of the

fray. Once, he’ made a hurried
trip to -Duncan-to prove.an_ ad-
ministrative point on which he
held decided but unpopular
views.

; Another wordy. subject. of:
contention was whether to buy a
new. or- used fire pumper. .The
“Review: reported. that he invited
the council. to resign en masse
“and goto the people on matters. of
capital expenditure, an invitation:

{ which: was: declined. One ‘coun=:|:

a cillor , inva “particularly - heated
“session: ‘said: he had’ information
ofa firetruck “‘rushing”’ toa fire.
in low gear,” and was told he \ was.
“given. to exaggeration. Wi es

“Aart Bolster became fire chief i in
“May of 1951, He was succeeded by.
Victor Heal, and in turn by Larry
‘Rowles who each had six years
tenure. ‘Don Facey has been fire
chief for five . years,.~ with .
Deputies Wilf Butler and William
Hamilton, . and . Captains «Ken
Mollett,. Bruce. Elvedahl,: Gary.
Roger and. Art Sanders in: Sup:
port. . :
In. 1963 the Department took
‘delivery of its first brand new.
pumper, and late last year. it
acquired at a’ cost .of * nearly
2,000 a powerful modern
need of the Jatest design, the
purchase. made possible through
council's adoption of a long-term
capital budget program,

Back in May 1951, the volunteer
firemen laid the framework of an
ambulanea fund, Now: ‘the
Department has two fine am-
bulance:” vehicles and trained

Department, the fire committce
‘and the municipal council are. of
the best: The future need is for
better firchall accommodation,
and recreational accommoadation

depgreesal efficieney of the | pers

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SIDNEY RESIDENTS —

PHONE 656-45 ry;
OR CALEIN TO

HENRY ST. SIDNEY

On-arrival at the scene of the

strenuous equipment gathering -

av

2 ee ene eee ernie pe.

Sidney-North Saanich operates three fire engines and two ambulances.

By Bert Green
Fire protection throughout Saanich Peninsula
is still on a purely voluntary basis. Upwards of 60
officers and men. serving the community. in
Sidney and North Saanich and Central Saanich.
Volunteer Fire Departments provide 24-hour

protection,

initiate fire prevention programs.

and are constantly on call to respond to many
urgent appeals for ambulance service.

In the days when the volunteers in Sidney and
the municipality of Saanich provided the only
fire protection in the extensive rural area of the

. Peninsula, equipment

and. resources were

woefully inadequate. Today the Departments of
Sidney and North Saanich and Central Saanich
are equipped with vehicles second to none on the
Island. There is abundant material for a history
that would record an unfailing dedication to the

service. of

_ breed of man.

the: community by
.. generations of voluntary firefighters . .

successive
a special .

‘BY SHIRLEY roueer

“Work parties this week on our
new. hall were: something of a.

flop. There weren't: enough.
bodies around ‘on. Saturday for

both the work and the bottle

drive, so the work party fell to the

ewind:

Sunday. morning saw ‘four in-

‘building tennis courts at Sanscha
“was declined by North Saanich
Council. Moncey with the. state-
“J-ment. that ©

volunteer crews to man. them,

emergency calls for an. an:
bulance exceed 100 yearly,
Relations’ between the.

more in keeping. with: the: high)

\LSTERING|
‘SERVICE

i Ws, eo {
_ « f ~ vol “a a : : cae

Carer Court Aid|
Request Rejected '
By North Saanich

An: ‘appeal for’ ‘financial help

is ‘outside our
financial capabilities: “and: or
policies.” :

tained by. members and that the.
provincial. government.

taxes,’ observed

land,

COSTLY: “BANG”
Damage. totalling
resulted -from an
“bang in the ear driven by Fred
Mpempey of) Victoria, which
caused the vehicle to: veer off
Bands Kad Road last Thursday
and plunge into a diteh: R.CLMLP.
examined tire marks on the road.

$2,000

and issued Mr, Mpempey withea >

traffic violation report. for:
driving without due eare and
attention,

Wilke
‘supply instruction free of charge. |. oemcenie
“Such clubs should be self-sup-:

porting, not paid for by municipal |
; Ald. Go One §
Cumpston, and other Aldermen’
agreed. ‘Mayor Cumming felt that ff
North Saanich. recreation funds |

_ shoud be. used for punlie park- | | :

unexplained §

dustrious men and. three boys

working in the rain, If just afew™
more men had turned.up.the~
foundations
completed. I'm sorry to say that~

would. have © been

for some: unknown reason we are.

net getting too much cooperation, :

from parents. in our area.

the ‘community Spirit: of our
youth. Why not turn out and see

each other.

Scout

Don’t: forget. the clean-up ‘at
Camp Barnard -on

next week for details of the Cub
Rally April 18 and 19."

Volunteer Fire Brigade was

first. fire-.on the: premises..of
Sidney Drug Company, where the:

_the. Chief.

Sidney

objectives was reorganization
‘ol the, Brigade. Hugh: J: McIn-:

Goddard; Herman Shade and
others were instrumental in fund
But we are most pleased with - ure pens and the North;
“Department came into being. The
purchase of a. fire truck marked °
_the transition from hose and reel
ype mechanized | operation. “Tom:
ees Morgan. had succeeded. Cowell a as
| Chief i in 1 1931. ee
“Hall ‘Fund and the Choir | “art. Gardner ‘commenced his. ::
‘long: voluntary service as fire

how, much our. ‘youth: groups help

Travel Fund at Sanscha Hall. on™
: Sunday’ April: 19, at’ 8 p.m, Cubs |
. and Scouts will be selling tickets,
they. may. be. obtained by

ee phoning. 656- 9087 or 656-3619, °
Aletter from Mrs. A. Thornton: Bh

‘Trump of the newly-formed San-
scha. Tennis Cluv: said ‘that the:
courts, once built, will be. main-

-mander. Fe °B. Leigh -became
“chairman of the’ fire committee.
| They each continued \.in. their.

Saturday:
~ April 11, and watch The Review:

LE LI LT GE GT

Sidney And North Saanich

Fire protection service became
practical in Sidney. on the in-
troduction of a public water
supply. and in July 1913 the Board
of Trade formed a committee to
investigate the information of a
volunteer fire service. Capt.
Byers, J. B. Kelly, S. A. Kelly,
George. Cochrane and A. L.
Wilson were members.

On. July 29, 1914, Sidney
formed. with Fred Humber. the
first Chief and George Cochrane
as his deputy. 600 feet of hose was
bought for. $369, a Wirt & Knox
hose reel, $92 (still at the Fire
Hall) and three nozzles costing
$29.95 completed the equipment.

In .1916 the Brigade fought its

Doctors’. » Offices. are. now
situated: Wesley Cowell'y was then

Years later, in 1934, the Board
of . Trade. .was succeeded — by
~Businessmen’s
Association and one of its chief’

tyre, George. Gray, Everitt.

Volunteer’: ‘Fire

‘chief:in 1941, and in 1947. Com-,

respective offices until 1966.

~ Headed by Art Gardner, and i
with Commander. Leigh as |
treasurer. the Department en-.

—— Ine

Individual

Hair Stine

Scissor outline. Lee
Color ing AndPer manents
— Del. Cw Hairdressing

Ml OAK BAY AVENUE

Ch OSE0 MONDAYS se

tered ‘upon its most: significant

Seg ine So

_ 885- 1144.

wees

ee Sa

[ooze

period of consolidation and ex-
pansion. The . Chief was
scrupulous in his attention to
training and-the development of
the technical resources of the
organization, while Commander
Leigh was behind every drive for
funds.to provide the equipment
necessary for. increasing the

efficiency of the force. Both men

were indefatigable in giving of
their time and energies for the
welfare of the volunteers and the

_ better -protection’ of the com-

munity.

Fred Musclow,. now ..First
Captain and a volunteer member
of the fire department since 1936,
has recently compiled a detailed
record -of - fire. protection

developments, largely from the

pages of The Review... Thinking

back, it seems to him. that there

has been a marked change in.

public relationships since -the

formation of the fire district:
In: the old days of voluntary

support when we had to beg,
“borrow. or steal, we .were -very

close to the people. But now that
fire protection has beconie a

‘rnatter for taxation there seems
‘to be a separation of interests, ”
“observed Mr. Musclow. as

: _WaSHINGTON

W EST ERN =
= a RACING

“TMOTY

The name. was changed to
Sidney and North’ Saanich

Voluntary Fire: Department in .

1953, and in 1959 the first of. two
ambulances was purchased, In 10
years of. operation more. than
2,000 ambulance calls have been
answered. It is safe to say that
many lives have been. saved by
this indispensable voluntary
service.

“Old Betsy’, the first Sidney
truck of the. Thirties was
acquired from: Saanich and
converted locally by the firemen.

She clocked 90,000 miles before -

her sale to Metchosin in 1961, and
she is still in active service. —

The Department now boasts a
fine: fire hall,
Much. of. the framing and- work
was contributed by the members,
and it is said to have cost: the
District no more than $2, 000. The

‘recreation accommodation ‘ for.

the volunteers’ is exceptionally
well founded. and complete.

Fre Chief ‘Hugh Loney now has
25 volunteers, His Deputy is Ted |
Clarke and the Captains are Fred
Musclow,. Art Grossi and Ken Sofie

Wallace:

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